Biblical Studies and the Failure of History

The idea of the Old Testament as a source of historical information was replaced by an understanding of the texts as a means for early Jewish society to interpret its past. 'Biblical Studies and the Failure of History' brings together key essays which reflect the trajectory of this scholarly shift.

Introduction
1 - The 'Hebrew slave': comments on the slave law, Exodus 21:2-11
2 - The manumission of slaves - the fallow year - the Sabbatical Year - the Jubilee Year
3 - Andur rum and Mišarum: comments on the problem of social edicts and their application in the ancient Near East
4 - The Greek 'amphictyony': could it be a prototype for Israelite society in the Period of the Judges?
5 - The chronology in the story of the Flood
6 - 'Hebrew' as a national name for Israel
7 - Rachel and Leah: on the survival of outdated paradigms in the study of the origin of Israel
8 - The Old Testament: a Hellenistic book?
9 - Power and social organization: some misunderstandings and some proposals, or is it all a question of patrons and clients?
10 - Is it still possible to write a history of ancient Israel?
11 - Is it still possible to speak about an 'Israelite religion'? From the perspective of a historian
12 - Kings and clients: on loyalty between the ruler and the ruled in ancient 'Israel'
13 - Justice in western Asia in antiquity, or why no laws were needed!
14 - From patronage society to patronage society
15 - Are we Europeans really good readers of biblical texts and interpreters of biblical history?
16 - History writing in the ancient Near East and Greece
17 - Good and bad in history: the Greek connection
18 - On the problems of reconstructing pre-Hellenistic Israelite (Palestinian) history
19 - How does one date an expression of mental history? The Old Testament and Hellenism
20 - Chronology and archives: when does the history of Israel and Judah begin?
21 - 'Because they have cast away the law of the Lord of Hosts', or 'We and the rest of the world': the authors who 'wrote' the Old Testament
Index